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The authors of India's Constitution recognised the existence of
slavery and debt servitude under which a person is forced to work
in repayment of a loan advanced by the employer.
2. Debt Bondage in India
Bonded labour and slavery-like conditions have existed in India
for centuries, notably in rural areas, where extreme poverty and
feudal or semi-feudal conditions force the poor to seek cash for
basic subsistence (food and medicine) and social customs (marriage
and funeral rites). Repayment of the loan is only possible through
the debtor pledging his/her labour, and, in time, they need to seek
further loans and advances. Thus, s/he must render continuing service,
often for no wages at all, and, as the debt increases, other family
members are called on to work to repay the loan. Other forms of
debt servitude exist: within contract labour systems on construction
sites; among child labourers who are pledged to factory owners by
family members; and among migrant labourers. Bonded labourers (and
their families) are forced to work until the loan is repaid; the
relationship with their master is characterised by compulsion, long
hours without adequate food and rest, and, frequently, violence.
They are not free to work for another employer. Slavery is also
found within this system, insofar as labourers are sold by one landlord,
contractor or employer to another. Such conditions are contrary
to the fundamental concepts of freedom, dignity and justice enshrined
in the Preamble to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.
Justice P.N. Bhagwati has described bonded labour in the following
terms: "[Bonded labourers] are non-beings, exiles of civilization,
living a life worse than that of animals, for the animals are at
least free to roam about as they like....This system, under which
one person can be bonded to provide labour for another for years
and years until an alleged debt is supposed to be wiped out, which
never seems to happen during the lifetime of the bonded labourer,
is totaly incompatible with the new egalitarian socio-economic order
which we have promised to build...”
3. Legislation
Article 23 of India's Constitution was translated into legislation
in the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, which was intended
to free all bonded labourers, cancel their debts, establish economic
rehabilitation measures, and punish (through fines and imprisonment)
those who employ bonded labourers or place their relatives in bondage.
Implementation of the Act is the responsibility of state governments
which are charged with empowering District Magistrates (who are
local government officials) with the means of enforcement. It is
the duty of District Magistrates to "secure and protect the economic
interests" of bonded labourers, and, to this end, Vigilance Committees
were to be established at each district and sub-division level.
Vigilance Committees have a duty to provide for the "economic and
social rehabilitation" of bonded labourers. Vigilance Committees
are composed of persons nominated by the District Magistrate and
state government, and should include persons belonging to Scheduled
Castes or Scheduled Tribes, social workers, persons connected with
official and non-official rural development agencies, and a person
representing credit institutions.
According to the Report of the Government of India submitted to
the Human Rights Committee in November 1995 "Adequate legal mechanisms
and machinery exist in India to meet the requirements of Article
8 of the Covenant. There have been no changes in the legal framework
on abolition of bonded or forced labour in India since the last
report, since existing legislation has served to tackle the situation.”
It is stated in the same Report that "...vigilance committees have
been set up in subdivisions of States where bonded labour has come
to light. These committees meet periodically to review the work
being done."
As this submission will show, both statements are untrue in terms
of the adequacy of the machinery, and its functioning at state and
district level.
4. Extent of Bonded Labour
The integrity of the Report of the Government of India to this Committee
is particularly undermined when it states "As per reports received
from State Governments the total number of bonded labourers identified
and freed was 256,000, of whom 223,000 have been rehabilitated.”
The implication here is that there are only 33,000 bonded labourers
in India awaiting rehabilitation, and that the solution to the problem
is well in hand.
The reality is starkly different. Responsibility for the abolition
of bonded labour rests with state governments, which, in spite of
evidence placed before them, continue to deny or underreport the
existence of bonded labour. In 1994, 13 states presented sworn affadivits
to the Supreme Court to the effect that there were no bonded labourers
in their jurisdiction. The Tamil Nadu State government declared
that "...in Tamil Nadu only stray cases of bonded labour are
noticed.” In the same year the Supreme Court commissioned a
survey of bonded labour to be carried out in the 13 states, including
Tamil Nadu. The Commission appointed to investigate bonded labour
in Tamil Nadu reported in late 1995 that it had studied 20 industries
and concluded that there were over one million bonded labourers
in the State, and that the State was also one of the largest exporters
of bonded labour to other states. Since then, the Tamil Nadu government
has appointed a minister with a separate portfolio for 'bonded labour
elimination'. As of the date of this submission, the reports commissioned
by the Supreme Court from the remaining 12 states have not been
published.
A preliminary report to the Supreme Court on bonded labour in Maharashtra
gives details of the use of migrant bonded labour to harvest sugarcane.
It is estimated that 600,000 bonded labourers (of which over
70 per cent are from Scheduled Tribes) are employed by approximately
130 factories from which they receive an advance through a contractor.
The contractors provide loans at exhorbitant rates of interest which
keep the labourers in a perennial state of debt, forcing them to
return to the sugarcane fields year after year, usually with the
same contractor.
In a survey carried out between 1988-1995 in 48 out of the 174 sub-districts
of Karnataka State, a local NGO - JEEVIKA - identified over 18,000
bonded labourers, and submitted individual petitions for rehabilitation
for more than 16,000. JEEVIKA acknowledges that the Government of
Karnataka has been more active than any other state in identifying
and rehabilitating bonded labours, nevertheless, it had identified
only 2,866 bonded labourers in Karnataka between 1979 and 1992.
In spite of evidence made available through the work of individual
researchers and non-government organisations, senior state-level
officials throughout India continue to deny that bonded labour exists
in their states (eg, Rajasthan, Bihar and Gujarat).
There has been no recent comprehensive survey to determine the magnitude
of bonded labour in India. In 1981 the Gandhi Peace Foundation published
a sample survey conducted in 1000 villages in 10 states, which estimated
the number of bonded labourers to be 2,617,000 (of which 61.5% belonged
to Scheduled Castes and 25.1% belonged to Scheduled Tribes). According
to the Ministry of Labour's Annual Report for 1994-95, only 251,424
bonded labourers have been identified by state governments. In the
absence of reliable official statistics, an estimate has to be arrived
at. Given the evidence for the existence of one million bonded labourers
in Tamil Nadu, it can be estimated that there are at least 10
million bonded labourers in India, but the actual numbers cannot
be known for as long as officials continue to deny their existence
(thereby avoiding responsibility for identification). In its recent
report, Human Rights Watch has provided the most comprehensive overview
of the evidence for child bonded labour in India. According to its
most conservative estimate, there are no fewer than 15 million
child bonded labourers in India.
5. Bonded Labour and Caste Discrimination
Poverty and landlessness, combined with feudal or semi-feudal servile
relationships between classes of people are universal factors in
debt bondage. In India, the socially-imposed segregation of society
into a caste hierarchy is an over-arching feature of all social
and economic relations. The vast majority of bonded labourers belong
to "scheduled castes" or "scheduled tribes", and are placed at the
very bottom of the social order. Such people are considered "untouchable"
by ruling castes. Given that an overwhelming majority of those responsible
for implementation of the abolition process - from state government
officials to District Magistrates, to members of Vigilance Committees
- come from the higher castes, it is hardly surprising that they
show little enthusiasm for the abolition of bonded labour.
6. Failure of Implementation
Article 14 of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, provides
for the establishment of Vigilance Committees at district and sub-divisional
levels. The Committees comprise both official and non-official members.
The Vigilance Committees at district-level were intended to constitute
the corner-stone of the entire process of identification and rehabilitation
of bonded labourers. However, there is ample evidence (from Andhra
Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Madhaya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh) to show
that these Committees are largely non-existent. Where they have
been established, they are, variously, non-functioning, ineffectual,
or corrupt. Frequently, there is collusion between employers and
local authorities in obstructing processes of identification, release
and rehabilitation, as well as physical abuse of bonded labourers
who attempt to gain their freedom by allowing their cases to be
presented to district magisgrates. Equally, there is documentary
evidence of harassment and threats against human rights activists
who work for the liberation of bonded labourers (Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh). Most telling of all is the virtual absence of records
for prosecutions, fines or imprisonment of those who break the law
by engaging debt-bonded labourers.
7. Role of Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs)
The failure of state governments, and of the administrative mechanisms
set up to abolish bonded labour, has left a vacuum which has been
filled by NGOS and individuals concerned about the plight of bonded
labourers. Their work has included: collection of research data,
filing 'first information reports' for release of bonded labourers,
awareness-raising among bonded labourers, and helping them obtain
rehabilitation grants from government. Perhaps the most significant
advances gained by NGOS on behalf of bonded labourers, has been
the use of 'public interest litigation' to bring the influence of
the Supreme Court to bear on state governments, which have failed
to carry out their responsibilities.
8. Role of the Supreme Court
In the absence of effective central and state government action,
it has fallen to the judiciary to initiate progress in the direction
of the abolition of bonded labour. Firstly, the Supreme Court has
given several judgments which provide a liberal and broad definition
of the concept of bonded labour. Secondly, in two recent judgments
(footnote PUCL vs. State of TN and Others, Writ Petition no. 3922
of 1985, and M.C. Mehta vs State of TN and Others, Writ Petition
no. 465 of 1986) it has set up commissions of inquiry into bonded
labour. Thirdly, it has recently issued orders for compensation
to be paid by employers of child labour sufficient to pay for the
rehabilitation of each child labourer identified.
The inquiries ordered by the Supreme Court have usually been a response
to petitions submitted by bonded labourers or NGOS and to state
government denials that bonded labour still exists. The inquiries
have routinely confirmed that bonded labour is a persisting reality,
enabling the Supreme Court to order state governments to take specified
measures to implement the law.
However, it needs to be re-iterated that if Vigilance Committees
are failing to carry out their responsibilities, and District Magistrates
are not prepared to implement the law by prosecuting those who recruit
and employ bonded labourers, no amount of exhortation by the Supreme
Court will make any impact on the lives of 10 million bonded labourers.
9. Rehabilitation
"Rehabilitation of the freed bonded labourer is even more important
than the release. If such a labourer was to lose his employment
or to be sent back to his home State if he is a migrant, he would
lose his source of livelihood and the 'remedy’ would be worse than
the 'disease’ ”. According to Article 14 of the Bonded Labour
System (Abolition) Act, Vigilance Committees have, as part of their
functions "to provide for the economic and social rehabilitation
of the freed bonded labourers”. In practice, financial support
for rehabilitation is provided jointly by central and state governments.
In 1996 both the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Labour announced
increases in the amounts to be made available to released adult
and child labourers. However, since there are hardly any properly
functioning Vigilance Committees, few District Magistrates willing
to implement the law, and a total absence of reliable data, it seems
unlikely that these announcements will bring about much change.
10. Recommendations Anti-Slavery International urges the Human Rights
Committee to:
A. Examine closely the Government of India's compliance with Article
8 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
B. Call on the Government of India to present comprehensive, independently
verifiable data on the total number of bonded labourers, together
with concrete plans for their release and rehabilitation.
C. Call on the Government of India to commission a thorough review
process, for example under the auspices of the National Commission
for Human Rights, to determine what further steps should be taken
to secure compliance with the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,
1976. Such a review should specifically consider the possibility
of radical reform of Vigilance Committees and independent monitoring
of their functioning.
D. Call on the Government of India to ensure that representatives
of non-governmental organisations with a reliable track record of
concern for bonded labourers be included in every level of the oversight
process of implementation of the Bonded Labour System (Abolition)
Act, 1976.
E. Call on the Government of India to ensure that adequate resources
are assigned to rehabilitation processes, without which freed bonded
labourers will return to the conditions of bondage from which they
were rescued.
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